Obama to Detail Gun-Control Plans at White House Event

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The public debate on new gun control
measures gets down to specifics today as President Barack Obama
unveils a package of proposals that includes a ban on sales of
assault weapons that faces congressional opposition even as a
majority of the public supports it.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will be joined at the
White House by children who wrote the president expressing their
concerns following last month’s mass shooting at a Connecticut
school, Jay Carney, the president’s spokesman, said yesterday.
The announcement is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. New York time.

“The president’s committed to this,” Carney said.

While Carney refused to preview what the president will
introduce, other administration officials said that along with
the assault-weapons ban, Obama will seek universal background
checks for firearms buyers and a prohibition on high-capacity
ammunition magazines.

Initiatives to strengthen mental-health checks, tighten
school safety, address cultural influences such as violent
movies and video games, and improve the government’s ability to
collect information about gun violence, are also on the list,
according to the officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss
details before the event.

Reinstating an expired 1994 assault-weapons ban,
administration officials have indicated, will be among the most
difficult to pass, given opposition from gun-rights groups and
their allies in Congress.

Poll Figures

Support for banning high-capacity magazines has reached a
new high, at 65 percent, according to an ABC News/Washington
Post poll released earlier this week. The survey has tracked the
issue since early 2011.

Requiring background checks on firearms buyers at gun shows
has the support of 88 percent of Americans, while 58 percent
want to ban the sale of assault weapons, the poll found. Fifty-five percent back the NRA’s call for armed guards in schools.

Once Obama releases his recommendations, the focus will
shift to Congress, where a number of members are already
planning to offer legislation. Among them is Senator Dianne
Feinstein, a California Democrat who has said she will introduce
a bill expanding the classification of assault weapons and
prohibiting their sale and importation.

The plan will include 19 separate steps Obama could take
through executive action, prompting complaints from Republicans
that he will abuse the authority of his office to monitor gun
owners and restrict their rights.

Representative Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican, said he
would file articles of impeachment if the president uses
executive actions to restrict gun rights.

“The president’s actions are not just an attack on the
Constitution and a violation of his sworn oath of office - they
are a direct attack on Americans that place all of us in
danger,” Stockman said in a statement.